Obviously you're not going to share your grand ideas here when interest and dedication haven't been shown or proven, but what's the unique selling point?

Design/story are inter-dependent, under unique selling points... what will this RTS have over existing RTS's already out there or under production by a bigger studio?

One recent RTS I found better than the average collect minerals/build units is Supreme Commander. It went for macro over micro full of destruction on a grand scale. I've never tried to play multiplayer, but the campaigns became really easy once you hole up. I'm sure vs a human player it won't be the case which offers skilled players so many options on how to beat the other player(s).

Of the RTS's I've played over the years. Bold titles are the ones I would choose to study from.

Spellforce Series - Story driven, game play is okay, heroes are way over powered but once again not the all in one solution. Could of used better scripting for in game cut scenes and voice acting.

for cutscenes I was thinking maybe just use video files. We could always just take some in game models and subsurf them with some quick action and explosions, at least for the early stages of development (would be extremely easy for an air strike cut scene).

I was wondering if you had a prefrence when it came to modelling? Do you mind rigging skeletons?

Another Idea for the theme would be construct an RTS from the same universe as the space trade game. Mostly spaceship combat.* simple enough pathing.* easy to implement effects* easy effective skybox backdrops* static models, no need for rigging or many keyframes.

dude I was looking at some of your models, there so cool. It also answered my question about the rigging.

Another question though, Do you know how to Tangent map models(Bake normal maps) from high poly to a dot3 texture map?I am asking as I plan to do alot of work on the 3D side of things I want to make sure the game supports basic shaders.

Yeah, I can do normal/displacement maps no problem. I practiced them a lot during school, but never produced a highly detailed to showcase since all the projects I modeled and rigged for had 1 programmer and that was impossible to implement in a 4 month period.

I agree with space sci-fi theme, boxes are much easier to model/texture/animate verse characters. Although Mudbox makes character modeling tons easier now. I'm working on a demonized black sheep model for my Conquerclub avatar, will put that up as soon as it's done.

Making a really configurable RTS is definitely an interesting project. Is the intention to fix the theme initially and then migrate to something modable, or start with building a configurable system? My opinion is fixing the theme initially and working on getting something working while keeping the modding system in mind but not a priority is going to work better.

Other questions:

Will the 3D version support both lightweight software mode and opengl/directx hardware?

Multiplayer - I definitely think it's something that makes the project interesting, just because there are so many ways you could approach RTS networking

If you're going to use 2D and 3D, is that going to rule out using 3D terrains? Or is there something inbetween like some set of fix elevations?

Making a really configurable RTS is definitely an interesting project. Is the intention to fix the theme initially and then migrate to something modable, or start with building a configurable system? My opinion is fixing the theme initially and working on getting something working while keeping the modding system in mind but not a priority is going to work better.

There would be no priority on making the development tools stable, or open to the end user at the start, only to speed up development of the game, instead of spending to much time scripting.

As for the theme Im personally swaying alot to a space/scifi (If anyone has other ideas please tell me).Another bonus in this would be (other than what was said before):Basic RTS layouts seems to be a baseGird[][] and airGrid[][]. I was thinking if there isnt a base grid defined in the mapeditor, then it could turn into a "heavy weight unit" grid[][], smaller in size maybe baseGrid.length / 3; It means for the space scenes, there could be large carrier ship, or space stations in the lower part, and "leight weight" ship on the heigher grid. Also means faster pathing calculation for big ships instead of taking into account multiple small blocks when pathing. Simple and effective.

Will the 3D version support both lightweight software mode and opengl/directx hardware?

3D version will be openGL only, optimised also for slow computers (eg basic lighting, display lists, and single texture mapping).2D version I highly recommend doing it using openGL, I think there are alot of good slick programmers would be nice if someone could use it to render the 2D version, If someone is confident that a 2D version could be done using software and still rendered fast enough through and applet or webstart, feel free to do so.

Multiplayer - I definitely think it's something that makes the project interesting, just because there are so many ways you could approach RTS networking

When the actual development(of the core game) begins. I will highly recommend starting it out as a multiplayer, Ill problably end up programming the networking stuff. I was thinking I may be focusing on 3D/Networking side of things as I already have completed version of code suitable for the project, ill probably end up porting some of that over.

If you're going to use 2D and 3D, is that going to rule out using 3D terrains? Or is there something inbetween like some set of fix elevations?

Yeah I was thinking about this. I really dont know a nice way to approach the 2D side of things.In a space game elevations wont matter to much (but Id really like support a variety height) for impressive tile maps when there used.A "space scene" 2D would work great, draw the lower scene, then higher scene, turn Depth testing on, and re render the base scene with GREATER, set alpha channels to maybe 0.25f or something like that for an effective visual.Yet for a version with the tile map on. I could propose the visuals of startcraft 1, But thats a bit demanding for a "simple version". Another option would be to break up the tile map into its height vectors, then at runtime render the high points with lighter colours, and lower points with a darker colour.

But I honestly dont think I would be working on the 2D side of things, so it really comes down to the capabilities of the person who takes the banner for 2D. A simple problem to overcome would be the use of bridges, and again it would just be a second call to render the base layer with GREATER depth testing on and alpha blending on.

Developer InteractionsAs the roles for this project are simply to allocate, personally, I dont see the need for any advanced communication setup. I personally think its best if emails of all team members were distrubuted amoung the team. I wouldnt mind doing the main administration work of following up on peoples dead lines/progress. Binary builds would be uploaded to a main demo web site, and basic information about the project will be accessible. I think anything more than a basic forum Thread, and "Release" website will only make for an unproductive environment. If anyone has a better idea, say so, this is something that would be best to finalise at the beginning.

To start, I made an mistake about Pax Imperia, it was an RTS I actually liked!!

The one with the over powered smart bomb was called Ascension.

Pax Imperia 2 is something we should all check out to get an idea of a good space rts. It's Low poly 3D units moving in a 2.5D space environment. Plants are always at the bottom right while ship to ship combat revolves around fleet formations and ship design.

Point defenses are key since missiles and fighter/bombers are available on CVN classed vessels. But to counter, you load up a BB class ship with long/mid range particle weapons to take slow moving targets out from far away. I loved this game! gonna try to find it and play it for the next bit on my one free night on Mondays.

Pax Imperia 2 is something we should all check out to get an idea of a good space rts. It's Low poly 3D units moving in a 2.5D space environment. Plants are always at the bottom right while ship to ship combat revolves around fleet formations and ship design.

Ill check out some shots in youtube. Gameless I was thinking a might just throw together a quick mock version, to give a basic idea of the game machanics. How long till you could get a few models ready? maybe even some quick UV mapped arrow heads, for basic fighter crafts.

So far the participants are few, so there is no need to make the communication more complex.

The international high distributed project that I was in for the last year has clearly showed that 'just' using mailing lists, email and some issue tracking system made things pretty dawn helpless. Even using IM here and there did help did'ly squat. Only thing that 'kinda' worked was Skype meetings. And that was for what I considered pretty trivial things.

Since I'm only helping on the art side, I just need a deadline date on art assets. Communication is more vital between the programmers.

As for the game's theme and style, Star Trek Armada came to mind as a great space RTS in the classic RTS format. Lets see if I can find that and play it for insights on what's good and bad. Been so long since I played it.

A friend started working on some basic ships. will be nice once we got a few basics models to show off.Im not sure about if they will be the models used in the end (probably will be), becaue in order to keep in it sync with the other game, may have to wait for the decisions.

Just a few things to note for models(at least for the mock version until more programmers come on board):* Triangulate mesh (convert polygons to triangles)* export keyframes to Wavefront ".obj"

I am interested in helping with this. I am a Java programmer for my job. I haven't completed any games except 4k ones. I hope I can stick with this one to the end. My time will vary, but I will put as much as I can. I have already been added to the Google code site. Are you going to take advantage of it?

I am interested in helping with this. I am a Java programmer for my job. I haven't completed any games except 4k ones. I hope I can stick with this one to the end. My time will vary, but I will put as much as I can. I have already been added to the Google code site. Are you going to take advantage of it?

I just sent Kev a PM in order to regester to the site.Glad to here more interest in the project. I wouldnt mind checking out some of your 4k games, do you have a site?

Once I work out how the site works , Ill upload a basic version for starters.

I should also mention that I have a basic level knowledge with LWJGL, jME and Slick. I have done most of the tutorials for each. I have also used Blender a little bit and programmed some simple Python scripts in it. I have done a little bit of JNI work too.

I should also mention that I have a basic level knowledge with LWJGL, jME and Slick. I have done most of the tutorials for each. I have also used Blender a little bit and programmed some simple Python scripts in it. I have done a little bit of JNI work too.

good to know. Ill try upload a version soon, so you can choose an area you feel most confident programming in.

bobjob's got a RTS engine already set up, he showed me some screen shots of it over the past weekend which he can port into an space RTS fairly easily. What we need is now a design doc of what we want to achieve as an RTS. I been doing some sketching on various ship models. Nothing too detail yet, just putting down basic geometry to see what'll make an interesting design with low polygons.

If we can somehow tie this into the universe of the space trader game, that would enlist quite a few good writers that are more interested in developing that game atm.

Does that mean we already rushed off to code something, whist not having a direction, a initial first target, etc.. down? Or is this a prototype?

Until there is more than 2 programers for a project, I dont see the point in starting from scratch. Im more than happy to, but i would very much like to see progress.

I plan to set up the main code to be more of a utility library. This way people can chop and change parts they want to, but there will always be a working version of a game to test. I think it will be alot more rewarding for everyone involved, unless of corse more programers are interested in joining. I am currently carring most of the responsibilty for this project, and IMO I feel i am approaching it the right way, with the resources I have.

A side note:I have a friend who works alot with blender, and uses the blender forums. In his opinion he believes there are alot of people willing to help out with projects, even with at least a single model. As there hasnt been much interest in the programming side of the RTS im hoping that wont be the case in other aspects.

Unfortunately that might cause there to be less programmers interested, adopting large amounts of code doesn't come easily to a lot of folks.

ok fair enough, First up ill upload a mock version. hopefully it will stimulate more interest. Then once again ill propose a basic first target.but if nothing eventuates and still there isnt many programers, ill re-evulate the situation.

Love the model, art already, awesome Are you planning to have the space trader universe and this one interact - or have the same theme or something, because that would be very cool.

It would be cool if they were in the same unverse, and same series titles.Im still waiting on the writers for the space trade to do something. Once they do, if there are any key characters mentioned in the history of the unvirse or something of the like, ill adopt there plot into the RTS.

CaptainJester how do you feel about things on the programming side?Would you rather tweek/add/take away from an already stablished game?Or would you want us to start from scratch, building say a map editor?

java-gaming.org is not responsible for the content posted by its members, including references to external websites,
and other references that may or may not have a relation with our primarily
gaming and game production oriented community.
inquiries and complaints can be sent via email to the info‑account of the
company managing the website of java‑gaming.org